Tempted (In Too Deep) (4 page)

Chapter 7

Taylor

I try to forget
about the random girls calling my boyfriend to hook up, and let what he just told me about London sink in. I don’t like the idea of him leaving for several weeks, not when things are just starting to get to a solid place between us, but I understand that he has to do this for his job.

“I asked Reis to keep an eye on you while I’m gone.” He kisses my forehead.

“I don’t need babysitting, Colt. Besides, I’ll keep myself busy with school, MJ and Logan.”

“I know. It’s
just, he doesn’t have many friends here, so you’d actually be doing me a favor if you kept him company. And I already asked him. He wants you to come to his first soccer game.”

“Okay.” I shrug. I
can hang out with Reis while Colt’s gone. Maybe I could help him grow up a little, like I’d managed to do with Colt.

I settle into Colt’s arms, completely at home, completely comfortable. I love how open he’s learning to be with his feelings toward me. I won’t lie that hearing him say he’s falling for me sends tingles down my spine.

I decide a little reward is in order for this cute night he planned. I turn to face him and climb into his lap while a lazily grin spreads across his lips.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Shh.” I lean down and press my lips to his. “You’ve been good tonight.” I place another kiss on his mouth. He smiles against my lips.

***

“Colt,” I groan as he moves to my neck, his hands exploring my body.

He lets out a frustrated growl, stopping his progression of kisses down my
throat.

“Don’t stop,” I beg. I
press my hips into his, urging him to keep going.

His breath comes fast against my neck. “I want to baby.
So bad.” He pulls back. “But I can’t take this.”

“I’m sorry
. I know you’re not use to going this slow.”

“It’s okay
, honey.” He skims my hair back from my face, tucking it behind my ears, then leans in to kiss my forehead.

I can tell this is it, the moment is over. He pulls back from me. “No, it’s not okay.” I grab his hands, keeping him near me, though I can tell he’s desperate to get away and clear his head. Suddenly I don’t want him to. I don’t want him thinking too much about our relationship which moves in stops and starts, never progressing to the point where either of us feels satisfied. I look up and meet his gorgeous hazel eyes, framed in dark lashes. “I’m scared I’m not what you need.”

He brushes his knuckles along my cheek. “Hey, stop that.”

“No, Colt.” I let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m serious. I know I don’t stack up to all the girls in your past.”

“Hush.” He forces my chin up to meet his eyes. His look is serious. “They don’t stack up to you. Not even close. It’s you that I want.”

“I know you want to…have sex.”

He smirks, unable to deny it’s true.

“And even though my body wants that too, I’m still not ready. And I don’t want you to get frustrated by waiting for me – and at the same time, once we do it – I don’t want you to get bored with me.”

“Taylor, you are everything to me. You opened up my heart and showed me how to feel again. I want you. I want you in a way I’ve never wanted anyone. I want you – all of you to be mine. But what I told you before still stands. You will set the pace. I will never push you – well, not intentionally.” He leans down to skim his lips softly across mine. “I want you, baby, but not just the physical stuff. I want all of you. But I will wait until you’re sure. Okay, baby?”

I lean forward and press my lips to his. His mouth is soft and I let my tongue reach out and carefully lick his top lip. I feel him smile in response. My hands move to his hair, tangling the locks around my fingers and tug him even closer. He lets out a groan and my heart riots in my chest.

I pull back to meet his eyes. They are bright and gleaming with his desire for me.

“What was that for?” he asks.

“Sorry.” I look down and blush. “It makes me sorta insane when you call me baby.”

“Hm.”
He lifts my chin and looks at me thoughtfully. “Good. I like that.” He leans down and kisses me chastely on the lips, careful not to rile me up again.

Chapter
8

Colt

I drop my boxer briefs and jeans to the floor and look up at Taylor. Her eyes widen, and then squeeze closed. She’s so damn cute.
And innocent. It’s making me hot. 

She looks down it again and shifts on the bed. I follow her eyes and grin a little. But when I look back at her face, I see how nervous she is
. She swallows down a lump in her throat.

“What’s wrong?” I look down at myself and then back up at her. “You don’t like my body?” I tease.

She shakes her head, her eyes darting to mine. “No. I love your body, too much. It’s just that…
that
,” she looks down again, “is…um, bigger than I was expecting.”

I want to puff my chest out and strut around the room. My girl just told me I was big. I love hearing that shit. But then I see that she’s genuinely scared. Crap. I place my hands on the bed on either side of her and lean in. “I won’t hurt you. I promise.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “You’ll set the pace. And if you don’t want to have sex – then we won’t.” I rub my nose along her jaw, hoping to get her to loosen up. “Okay, baby?”

She nods and I can tell she’s smiling.

Good girl. “Now, you have far too many clothes still on.”

She lets out a giggle and pulls me down on top of her.

I place my hand over her heart and feel it thumping wildly. I love knowing I do that to her.
Just me. I never would have thought having a girlfriend had so many perks. But Taylor’s showing me things I never realized I was missing. I work my hand under her shirt, caressing the soft curve of her stomach, but avoiding her hips where she’s ticklish, knowing she’ll swat me if I tickle her right now. I push her shirt up, and she squirms on the bed, helping me. “Can this come off?” I murmur against her mouth, not wanting to break the kiss even to talk. She nods.

I sit up with her, and quickly strip her of her shirt. My fingers hesitant for a second at the back clasp of her bra, then she nods again and I unhook it and toss it on the floor with my clothes.

I can tell she’s nervous being undressed around me, but I want her know how beautiful she is. I stop kissing her, and hold her face carefully a few inches from mine. “You’re amazing.” She looks down, blushing. “I love how soft you are.” I trail my fingers along her upper arms. “And I love the way you smell.” I press my nose and mouth to her neck, tasting as I go. “I want to kiss every part of you,” I say against her neck. She lets out a soft moan at my words. “And I can. Because you are mine.” She smiles up at me, relaxing just a bit. “So beautiful,” I murmur against her lips.

She crushes her mouth to mine, kissing me intensely. Our tongues meld together in pure heat and energy. She’s breathing hard and pinned underneath me. The contact of her skin
against mine is heaven. She wraps her legs around my waist, drawing me even closer and groans when our hips meet and grind together. I find the button of her jeans and undo it. “Can these come off?”

She blinks up at me, hesitating as she considers it.

“I need to be closer to you, baby.”

She
smiles at my words and nods, too eagerly. I take a break from kissing her for just a second, and remove her jeans. I leave her panties on. Those really need to stay on if I’m serious about her setting the pace. Even though I feel like I’m about to explode.

She wraps her legs around me again, and her bare legs
skim against my back, coupled with the very little fabric now separating us nearly pushes me over the edge.

Chapter 9

Taylor

I’m dressed in just my panties, happily grinding against Colt, getting lost in his kisses, his caresses. I wrap my legs around him and he grips my hip
s, lifting me and pulling me closer. He lets out a groan. “Fuck, Taylor.”

His voice makes my insides go all molten. Despite loving that well placed swear word, I swat his chest, just to tease him. “Don’t curse.”

He groans kisses me again.

I know he said that I’d set the pace, but I feel anything but in control right now. My heart is pounding painfully in my chest. I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on.

And that scares me. I don’t want to mess up what Colt and I have. Though I’m not still worried he’ll get bored of me after we have sex, it does still lurk somewhere in the back of my mind.

“Colt.”
I push his shoulders back. “Colt, stop.”

He looks up at me with pain and confusion. He looks alarmed at the idea of having to stop. I feel bad. But not bad enough to make me do something I’m not ready to do.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, his voice husky.

“I’m sorry. I thought I was ready. But I’m not.” I look down.

He rolls over and pulls in a deep lungful of air. “Okay. That’s fine. Sorry, I just got a little carried away.”

“Are you sure?” I mumble, feeling stupid.

He snuggles me securely to his side. “Of course, everything’s fine. Better than fine. You just do insane things to my body, but I promise I’m fine.”

He presses a kiss to my forehead,
then gets off the bed to gather up my clothes.

Chapter
10

Colt

I’ve arranged all the details for our trip, and covered everything with Vera for while I’m away. Last month I sold the last of McAllister’s stock from his shady stock that skyrocketed thanks to orchestrating the oil spill. I donated the $1.9 million anonymously to the oil clean-up effort, just like Taylor wanted. It was the right thing to do, but the lack of income producing cases was starting to concern me. The sooner I could get this London deal secured, the better I would feel. I still had to deal with telling Taylor about
Bria. I know I shouldn’t have put it off for so long, but it never seemed like the right time. Every time we were alone, my phone was going off with another girl calling. That shit had to stop.

I open the door and pull
Taylor inside. Coming down here after lights out was quickly becoming our habit. One we’d have to break soon, because tonight was my last night in town for a little while. I had to tell her about Bria tonight. And I hope the gift I picked out would make up, at least in part, for how mad she was going to be.

“Come here. I got you something.”

I lead her to the bed, where I’ve wrapped a shoebox in silver paper.

“You got me a gift?” Her eyebrows dart up in surprise, and she smiles.

“Yep. It’s for both of us, actually.”

She tears into the paper, and lifts the lid from the box. Nestled inside are two identical smart phones.
“Cell phones?”

She picks one up.

“One for you, and one for me. So we can keep in touch better while I’m away. I activated them both with international calling.”

She smiles.

“And the best part? I changed my number. I have like four contacts in there now. You, Reis, Mrs. Lee, and a few people from the school.”

She laughs, and throws her arms around my shoulders. “That was sweet of you. Thanks.”

She laughs it off, but we both know what it means: No more random calls for girls from my past.

Chapter 11

Taylor

Colt’
s new phone is far more significant than just a new piece of technology. It means he’s giving up his past. He’s walking away from all of that. For me. I’ve thought a lot about our first time together over the last few weeks, and as we’ve continued to grow closer each day, I know I’m ready. I want to share everything with him. With him going away, our relationship will be tested sooner than I thought, but I know we’ll be fine. I want to take this step with him before he leaves, to show him that I trust him, and like he’s shown me with the new phone that I’m in this relationship completely.

After opening my gift, I lay across his bed, playing with my new phone. He seems distracted, probably at the thought of going away for several weeks. His suitcases are packed and placed near the door, reminding me of our limited time together.

He lays down next to me on the bed, and I tuck my head under his chin. His arms wrap around me, and our legs automatically intertwine as we both seek to get closer.

“How long will you be gone?”

He presses a kiss to my forehead. “Not sure yet. A few weeks.”

“I have something I wanted to tell you tonight.”

He leans back so he can see my face. “Okay. I have something I wanted to tell you too.”

I smile.
“Me first.”

He nods.

“I’m ready,” I whisper near his ear.

His muscle
s tense at my touch. “No.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “I’m fine, baby.”

“Well you might be fine waiting, but I’m not. I want to, Colt. Don’t make me beg.”

He studies my eyes, checking for any signs of wavering. I stare back at him, sure of my decision. “I want this. Trust me, okay?” I kiss him quickly, pulling back to see his reaction.

“Are you sure?”

I nod, meeting his eyes.

His breathing goes shallow and he nuzzles into my neck, planting soft kisses all along my jaw. “You are amazing. I am the luckiest guy in the world.”

My stomach tightens in anticipation, waiting and wondering what’s going to happen next. Being with Colt is nothing like being with Wes. Where Wes was clumsy and nervous with sweat coated palms, Colt is confident and relaxed. “I guess there’s a benefit to your history with other girls. You know what you’re doing,” I murmur at his touches.

“
There’s never been any other girls but you.”

I pull back for a second, and smirk at him.

“I’m serious,” he says. “None of that mattered to me
anyways. But this…this is important to me. I’ve never had sex with it meaning something more. So this will sort of be a first for me.”

I smile at his
words, and lean down to kiss him again.

We kiss passionately for several minutes, until I’m panting
at the anticipation of going farther. When Colt’s hands find my hips and pull me closer, I groan against his mouth.

He pulls back sharply. “It doesn’t have to be tonight.” At my frown, he continues. “We don’t have to stop
yet, but we also don’t have to go any further. Okay?”

“Stop backing out. If you don’t want to sleep with me…”

He chuckles, low and deep in his throat. “Yeah, that’s it.” He shakes his head, kissing me again.

Sensing that Colt may still need more convincing, I take matters into my own hands. I want to show him that I am ready. I pull my shirt over my head and drop it on the floor. I’ve been shirtless in front of him before, but never without a bra. I reach back to undo it, fumbling with the clasp. Colt’s fingers find mine and the clasp springs free. I chuckle. Yes, he is good at this. He pulls his shirt off over his head, tossing it onto the floor, along with my bra.
It doesn’t even occur to me to be self-conscious. I want this with him. He pulls me to him and the contact of our chests rising and falling together is amazing.

“Do you have protection?” I
breathe.

“
Shh. We don’t have to do this.”

I force his chin up to meet my eyes, glaring at him. “Don’t make me beg.”

He reaches into the nightstand beside the bed and removes a square package, setting in on the bed beside us.

My stomach is a ball of nerves. Seeing that package makes this all more real.

His hands roam up my back, starting at the base of my spine and massaging as he moves up. We continue kissing while I plot my next move, and push down the tingle of nerves in my stomach.

His cell phone buzzes loudly, vibrating on the night stand.
At first annoyance flares inside me, then I remember, hardly anyone has his new phone number. “That’s your new phone. Should we see who it is?” I murmur against his mouth.

Instead of answering, his tongue caresses mine, coaxing my mouth open as he deepens the kiss.

The second time the phone buzzes, I reach for it with my free hand, wondering who has his new number. “Bria?” I read the screen.

He stops kissing me abruptly
and reaches for the phone. I hold it tight and read the text.

Hey
hotstuff. What should I pack for London?

What the hell? Colt reads the text over my shoulder and winces. He didn’t want me to see this. He didn’t want me to know she was going
to London with him.

“
Bria’s going?”

I wait for him to deny it, to explain it’s just a coincidence. But he says nothing.

“And you hid it from me?”

His face falls, knowing he’s fucked up big time.

My stomach drops.

I reach for my bra and shirt, grabbing them from the floor and struggle with getting my bra on correctly. I’m so angry my hands are shaking. And to think, I was going to sleep with him tonight. Once I finally have my bra clasped, I thrust my head through my shirt,
it’s inside-out, but I don’t care.

“Taylor, wait,” he pleads.

I spin around and face him, challenging him to try and explain this.

“It’s not like that, baby.” He reaches for my hand.

I pull it back. “Don’t. Call. Me. That.”

He balls his hand into a fist. “I needed to bring another agent with me, and I needed her negotiation skills to I can secure this deal, Taylor. It’s critical for the school that I land this.”

“I know that, Colt. We’re not disputing that you need to go to London. Or even the fact that Bria is going with you. I know she works here. What I’m angry about is that you kept it from me.”

He drops his head, running his hands through his hair so it sticks up at a crazy angle in the back. “I was going to tell you tonight,” he whispers. “But you kind of distracted me.”

“That’s even worse, Colt. You were going to go through with my plan for tonight – with this hanging over us? This is a big deal for me. How can I trust you now?”

“I’m sorry, baby.”

His phone buzzes again with a new text from Bria. I realize I’m still gripping it in my hand.

You there?
It says.

“
Here. Your new phone.” I toss the phone at him, and leave the room.